Day trips in this area are very easy because there are so many towns and villages along the river. This means you can cruise past the castles or get one of the comfortable and efficient trains.

 Day Trip to

Koblenz

Between Rudesheim and Koblenz the river is a UNESCO world heritage sight because of its “cultural landscape”. Its the pretty part of the Rhine with more than forty castles and fortresses  along it. These were built between the 12th and 14th century. Some have been converted into hotels and some are ruins. There are pretty villages and vineyards between them. You will see he famous Lorelei rock if you take the boat to Koblenz but although the story about a nymph is interesting the rock itself is definitely underwhelming.

Limburg

Googling Limburg caused me problems. I knew I was going to somewhere in Germany but Google insisted it was in Holland. It turns out this place is really called  Limburg an Der Lahn. Whatever its called you need to get the train from Rudesheim.

It has a fabulous medieval centre with timber framed houses. High above the houses is the St Georges Cathedral which is intricately painted. Its a place to just wander and drink coffee so we didn’t rush to see every sight.

 

 

Day Trip to Heidelberg

Although we really liked the centre of Limburg Heidelberg was my favourite day trip of the week. There was so much to see.

Cochem

Cochem is lovely but it was completely overrun with tourists on the day we visited. To get away from the packed main street we tried to follow the tour of the town provided by the local tourist office. It was mostly instructions about going up and down steps. I think we went up and down several wrong streets but from the top we did get a great view of both the town and the castle.